News

The Streeton Dr intersection.

One of our Weston Creek spies sent in the following rant. I asked them to paint me a picture so they kindly provided diagrams:

The busiest southbound section of Streeton Dr, just north of Weston Creek town centre, has had a vehicle lane removed and replaced with a green bike lane.

With two turn-in lanes as well, four lanes of traffic now are forced into one lane, while the bike lane is wide enough for a bus (as proved yesterday by the bus who didn\’t bother merging, instead just drove on straight and allowed cars past).

In 13yrs living in the Creek, I cannot ever recall seeing a bike riding on the road in that particular section, because 1) there\’s too many cars, and 2) there\’s a bike path OFF the road immediately to the left.

More stupidly, the bike lane vears left across the busy intersection with Namatjira Dr, misses the bike/footpath by 15m, and then ends. Cars get two lanes again.

We all put up with narrower lanes so the bikes could ride on Hindmarsh Dr to Woden, but now cars have lost a lane all for 400m of bike lane – which wasn\’t needed – which comes from and goes to nowhere…

What’s Your opinion?

> I also ride a bike yet you would never catch me on a bike lane, I value my life to much and happily stick to the paths.
>I don’t get this. I use the bike lanes all the time…never had a problem at all.

You are lucky, In the past I have had a driver drive into the bike line to “scare” me and
then proceeded to honk at me. The crazy nut job! Also there is so much glass on the bike paths so I gave it up.

I must say I am surprised that an entire car lane was converted into a green lane. As cyclists, we only need a lane a metre or less wide. We have the luxury of wide lanes in this fine town – why not create a more narrow bike lane and then adjust the other to car lanes by the difference?

What a stupid thing to do. This whole concept of putting bike lanes in Canberra onto roads is moronic, especially when it involves the loss of a car lane and even more ridiculous if there is already a bike path next to the road.

No doubt this cost a fortune and will be money that should have been spent fixing up the bike paths that most cyclists use.

This is one of the stupidest things ive seen (have to drive this road every day).
It causes an uneccessary bottleneck for no reason on one of the busiest roads in Weston Creek.
The result is either going to be a car accident at the merge or a dead cyclist.

I don’t generally have a problem with bike lanes, but surely turning a perfectly good two lane road into a one lane road for 500 metres, and then back into two lanes, thereby causing delays inmerging, is a ridiculous idea.

Especially given the fact that the road is always going to carry a far greater percentage of cars that it ever will bikes.

Why not build a new bike path next to it. Or widen the existing road a few metres.

So here we go – it will now be us bike riders fault about Gov decisions, and we will bare the brunt of angry motorists frustrations. I foresee another hot cup of coffee thrown at me with no provocation in the coming year.

they’re about to do the same idiotic thing on Ginninderra Drive between Coulter drive and William Webb drive where it crosses the dam on the lake.

GOOD – about bloody time. It’s very risky business for both cyclists and motorists sharing road where there are “on again, off again” cycle lanes. It’s good they are finally completing the lane. Now hopefully they’ll do the same on the other side of the road heading back towards Belco. Thats the highest risk part of my commute each day.

I’m resisting as best I can to even reply to the bike lane next to bike path comment. God give me strength! 🙂

I’m rather annoyed at this new bike lane.The 2 lanes were great with the left lane turning into coolaman court and the right lane free for ongoing drivers. Now everyone is on the brakes and there is no steady flow of traffic. I also ride a bike yet you would never catch me on a bike lane, I value my life to much and happily stick to the paths.

> In 13yrs living in the Creek, I cannot ever recall seeing a bike riding on the road in that particular section, because 1) there\’s too many cars, and 2) there\’s a bike path OFF the road immediately to the left.

Hmmmm…well, in my 37 years living in the Creek (5 of them ON Streeton Drive) I’ve seen plebnty of bikes on that section of road…in fact, I see bikes there every day, often I’m one of them. So you musn’t be very observant is all I can say.

That said, this particular change does seem odd, to say the least. It creates more problems than it solves from what I’ve witnessed so far. I’m a keen rider & am usually all for measures to make my commute better, but this one doesn’t work in my opinion. Still, I’ll live with it. It’s really not that big a deal.

they’re about to do the same idiotic thing on Ginninderra Drive between Coulter drive and William Webb drive where it crosses the dam on the lake.

3 lanes across the dam has worked well for 20 years – from 4 lanes as you approach the dam and where traffic filters in from William Slim Drive and off to William Webb into mckellar. From Mckellar traffic filters in at the lights onto 3 lanes over the dam where traffic then sorts itself into one lane going left on to Coulter and 2 going further west into Belconnen.

Now some bright has come on the scene and right enxt to the bike path crossing the lake, the preliminary paint dots are down to create a lane wide bike track on the road and have only 2 car lanes and a small slip lane up at the coulter drive lights to go left – And nothing was broken before! It all worked. And thers a perfefctly good bike path right beside the road. Bikes that used the road had no problems before and they are a handful at peak time, IF you see someone.

Are the inmates running the sanitarium?? Who’s in charge of these morons?

OK I waithed like five minutes fo rthe tidal wave of anti-bike venom to be unleashed. Must be a slow morning.

I fail to see the problem here. One lane for cars for about 500m. Big deal.

As far as the whole bikes on the road thing goes, it’s just another tired agrgument that will allow the pro and anti bike crown wear their ignorance and stupidity on their sleeve for a day. The reality is, that bikes are just another vehicle using the road. If you drive a car and you genuinely believe that you’re going to have trouble mixing it up with bikes on the road then the only course of action open to you is to hand in your license and sell your car, because you’re not competent enough to drive safely. If you ride a bike and can’t do it sensibly and legally then you’re probably going to end up donating some of your organs.